2 Days to iTablet Roundup! Less than $1000, Publishing Deals, Patents and Technology

A MacRumors reader snapped the above pic of Apple getting the poster art in place for their upcoming "Come see our latest creation" event, set to kick off this Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm GT. TiPb will be live meta-blogging the event right on the homepage, and we'd be pleased as punch and pie if you joined us for our usual commentary and color.

Meanwhile, the net is fair exploding with leaks, rumors, and leaky rumors. Here's a sampling:

New York Times has created a "Reader Application Division". No reason. [9to5mac]

New York Times is also working closely with Apple to prep a version of the newspaper for a large screen device. [MacRumors]

Other publishers are also talking about Apple's tablet. Apple's been aggressive in trying to get deals done using an "agency model" to compete with Amazon/Kindle. They're cutting out intermediaries and going straight to the publishers. Critical content mass likely won't be reached until mid-2010. Won't cost anywhere near $1000. [9to5mac]

Historical looks back at both FingerWorks multi-touch technology and the history of the Apple tablet initiative [AppleInsider]

A look at Apple's multitouch and user interface patents, and what they may mean when taken together [LukeW]